A Study in Boredom

You know the feeling. It starts when you begin to feel trapped. Somehow, you’re unable to do something you want to do, or maybe there’s nothing you want to do. If you’re a writer, it feels like a much broader version of writer’s block – nothing going on in your head is working for you.

Dull. Uninteresting. Unsatisfying. Boring. And somehow, being bored is never quite as glamorous as the gentleman above makes it look.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I was younger, I would march out to my mom to complain about my crippling boredom, and I would promptly be assigned a chore to do. It made me wonder whether Mom was purposefully not entertaining me in order to bore me into a trap. (It’s not a bad idea, actually)

The chores did not help, but the long minutes of resentfully stuffing silverware into the kitchen drawers did set in my mind that I had better figure out how to entertain myself in the future. But when you think about it, that’s what everyone is trying to do, isn’t it? The worst thing about boredom is a feeling of uselessness. You’re not doing anything, not accomplishing anything. A desire for purpose is what pushes every man and woman towards greatness, even if that purpose is simply to make others aware of theirs, or to rid them of the boredom you are currently fleeing.

Boredom can be useful, even beneficial, so long as it inspires you to drag yourself out of it. Don’t get me wrong – I understand that inactivity can be unspeakably glorious at times. But people were not created to do nothing all the time.

And when we say that there’s nothing we can do, or even worse, nothing to do – Stop.

Come on.

Don’t be an old sponge with hair hanging off of it. [Gus]

If you’re reading this, then you’re on the internet. The internet is full of things you don’t know or haven’t seen. Go on and find one.

Now look around you. It’s even better than the internet out there. There are far more things unknown, sights unseen, feelings unfelt, and songs unsung.

“This is one corner of one country, in one continent, on one planet that’s a corner of a galaxy that’s a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying, and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see.”

~ The Doctor

The strength of your boredom has nothing on the strength of the things that there are to pull you out of your boredom.

You’ll still be bored at some point. But remember, after you’re through with that, then use boredom against itself. Turn it on its head and use it to inspire you to do something you love or to help you love others.

Be a victor.